ABSTRACT
Chapter 16 draws together some of the themes that have run through the book, using the concept of sociolinguistic competence to do so. The four social scales or dimensions of analysis introduced in chapter 1 (solidarity, status, formality and function) are used in accounting for patterns of language use in different communities. The chapter emphasises how the same basic components produce myriads of linguistic mosaics throughout the world and points out that sociolinguists search for generalisations that reveal common human responses to particular social influences. The final section of the chapter provides examples of possible sociolinguistic universals or generalisations.
